Chapter 11 : Mission

"…The Tokyo Jujutsu High School is not a place for someone like you to get by!"

In the corridor, Maki finished her last words to Yuta. Judging from Yuta's expression, Maki's words just now might have hit his weak points and caused a critical hit.

Panda at the side couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Maki, stop talking!" Toge also signalled her to stop talking. Didn't he see the depressed look on this new classmate's face?

"I see. You're so nagging." Maki carried the box of weapons on her back and walked forward.

Panda spoke to comfort Yuta: "I'm sorry. Don't take it too seriously. Sometimes, she just thinks she knows people very well." Yuta lowered his head: "It doesn't matter. After all... she is telling the truth."

Genichi walked over and patted his shoulder: "Don't look at this. Maki is a very gentle person to his companions..."

"Kamigawa... Ge...ni...chi!!"

Hearing Maki's roar from the front, Genichi quickly said goodbye: "I'm going to find Gojo-sensei. I'm leaving first!" He waved to a few people and quickly slipped away.

…

"This mission is a bit special. It's not just about cursed spirits, and it may also involve a curse user. However, it's probably only grade 2 to grade 1 at most. If Genichi can complete it, he only needs to recommend someone and complete the assessment to advance to grade 1."

Gojo Satoru looked very relaxed and continued, "And your technique is also perfect against curse users, so this time, it will be a solo mission for you. Is that ok?"

There is indeed no problem with Genichi. The permissions obtained by being promoted to grade 1 or even just a quasi-grade 1 are different. The rewards for tasks of different grades are not at the same level.

"I don't have any problem, but I need a cursed tool for close combat. Do you have one, Gojo-sensei?"

Gojo Satoru nodded: "It's in the school's safe. I'll register it for you later."

Afterwards, Genichi obtained a knife-shaped cursed tool, which, in theory, still belonged to the school. After getting the information about the mission, Genichi prepared to set off.

Nitta Akari is the assistant supervisor who works with Genichi. She is a beautiful woman with medium-length golden hair. Her exact age is unknown, but she looks quite young, lively, and cute.

The mission location was a small town. The cause was the disappearance of five adult women for no reason. The local police were initially investigating the case. Still, when the last victim died, it was captured by one of the few surveillance cameras on the street.

The strange scene then made them choose to seek help from professionals. Genichi was not too surprised by this. Under normal circumstances, the cursed spirits are invisible to ordinary people, and surveillance and cameras cannot even record them.

It must have been that sight that made the police discover that this incident was unusual, so they chose to report it. After arriving in the town, Nitta Akari reported all the information about the case to Genichi.

"In other words, Mr. Ijichi is certain that there are still traces of the curse in the town, and the victims are too regular, so he suspects that a curse user is involved?". Nitta Akari nodded thoughtfully: "Yes."

Genichi touched his chin and thought for a moment. The so-called curse user can be understood as a sorcerer who has been "corrupted". Most of them have destructive behaviours, such as the currently more famous curse user, who was once a student of the Jujutsu High School and a special-grade sorcerer - Geto Suguru.

It is said that he defected after killing 112 villagers in a village and later even killed his own ordinary parents. For such a heinous act, he was convicted as a curser and must be executed.

But he seems to be alive so far. It seems that there is some story between him and Teacher Gojo Satoru. After all, they are classmates.

Putting aside these messy thoughts, Genichi focused his attention on the suspicious points of this case: the common points of the five victims.

First, they were all young and beautiful women, aged between 20 and 25. Second, they were killed late at night, and their bodies were damaged. The scene was extremely tragic, and Genichi, who was used to seeing the horrible and disgusting scenes of the cursed spirits, almost couldn't stand it.

"If the murderer is a human, then he seems to be a psychopath. The victims did not show any signs of being violated. According to forensic examinations, the victims were brought to the crime scene and mutilated while they were conscious. Although their bodies were severely damaged, there were no missing parts..."

It wasn't for lust, and these five people didn't have any intersection in life, so it wasn't a revenge killing. Could it be that he was a perverted serial killer who only wanted to vent his dark desires? And he was also a cursed user!

Judging from the current clues, if the curse kills people, the pattern would not be like this. It is more likely that they all have a common point of having been to a specific place.

"Let's go and find out if there are any traces of the curse first."

Afterwards, Genichi and Nitta Akari began to patrol the town. However, after nearly an afternoon, they found nothing unusual except for a few remnants of cursed energy. The locations of those remaining cursed energy have nothing in common and are quite far apart, so they are of no value for the time being.

"Did the murderer hide?" Nitta Akira asked the question, but Genichi quickly rejected it.

"No, to put it bluntly, most of these curse user have difficulty controlling the negative emotions that come with their cursed energy. To some extent, they are just crazy... although most curse users seem to be a bit like that."

"The crimes against the five victims were almost continuous. Even when the police were investigating them most vigorously, the murderer did not stop committing crimes. So the murderer must be very rampant."

"Yes, with powers beyond those of ordinary people that can decide the life and death of others, it would be strange if these murderers didn't do the same."

After a moment of silence, Genichi suddenly said, "Ms. Nitta Akari, I have an idea..."

Nitta Akari, who was also worried about how to catch the murderer, was cheered up when he heard this: "Go ahead!"

Genichi looked at Nitta Akari. She was wearing a women's suit and had a good figure. Her appearance was not stunningly beautiful, but she was what ordinary people would call a beauty. Her blonde hair was also very fashionable and attractive.

"You meet the killer's hunting criteria: young and beautiful. You only need to appear alone on the street late at night. Once the wandering hunter sees you, he will surely not let go of such an opportunity. Your cursed energy is not outstanding, and it will not arouse the killer's vigilance, that is..."

Nitta Akari thought for a moment and then showed a resolute look: "I am willing to cooperate. Since there is a curse user involved, the sooner we catch him, the less people will be harmed!"

Genichi nodded: "But you don't have to worry too much, Ms. Nitta Akari. My technique is about speed. I will keep you in my sight. Once the murderer is identified, you only need to distract his attention for a few seconds, and I will be by your side immediately."

Nitta Akari nodded to indicate he understood, and then the two began discussing the specific action plan.

…

When night falls, there are not many people on the street. Only some drunkards, people who like nightlife and those who work day and night may still walk on the street.

At this time, a beautiful blonde woman was staggering on the street. She was dressed fashionably, had bright makeup, and a slightly drunk and unsteady step. She must have just come out of the bar after getting drunk.

It was late at night, and there was no one around. A beautiful young woman was all alone. Naturally, she would soon be targeted by someone with bad intentions who was "foraging" late at night.

The woman was Nitta Akari. She was walking on the street, drunk, but most of the time, she was pretending. Not long after, a man followed her in the dark.

Nitta Akari secretly wondered if this was the murderer. The footsteps, which were getting closer and closer, seemed even more terrifying.

Not long after, the person following behind seemed unable to bear it anymore and suddenly quickened his pace. Then a low, slightly obscene voice sounded: "Madam, are you drunk? Do you need help?"

Although somewhat nervous, Nitta Akari has not yet forgotten her disguise. Her demeanour, movements, and tone of voice resemble those of a drunk person.

"No... Who are you? If you don't leave, I'm going to... call the police..."

The man followed Nitta Akari for a distance. However, when he saw that she was still conscious and might call the police at any time, he gave up on this "prey" and disappeared into the darkness again.

"He didn't use a curse to make himself lose the ability to resist, and he gave up his target when he saw the situation was not good. It seems that he is not the murderer." Nitta Akari made a calm judgment in his heart and then pretended to walk towards "home".

However, not long after, Nitta Akari heard footsteps behind her again. She turned around and found that it was the man from before. It seemed that he was unwilling to give up, so he went back.

With important matters on her mind, Nitta Akari certainly didn't want to be entangled by this ordinary person who was most likely not the murderer, but there was no good way for the time being. After all, she was just pretending to be an ordinary person at the moment, and there was no guarantee that the murderer would not be watching in the dark...

So she just pretended to be afraid and walked quickly towards the place where the street lights were shining. The man following her also quickened his pace and tried to call out to her.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer. Just when Nitta Akari was thinking about whether she should interrupt the mission to deal with this person, she suddenly saw a taxi parked on the street in front of her, and an ordinary middle-aged office worker was getting out of the car.

"Go over and ask for help; that should scare away the ordinary person behind me." Thinking this, Nitta Akari walked over quickly.

The middle-aged office worker had already left, but Nitta Akari saw that the taxi had not left yet. Perhaps the other party saw Nitta Akari walking quickly and thought she wanted to take a ride.

When he walked to the car, he saw that the person following him was hesitant. Nitta Akari bent down slightly and prepared to talk to him, but when he was face to face with the driver, he was stunned for a moment, and then the words he blurted out became: "Hello, I need a ride..."

The driver, whose face could not be seen clearly, did not even ask where she was going. He smiled and said, "Get in the car, beautiful lady."

The rear door suddenly opened, and Nitta Akari was distracted and found herself sitting in the back seat. Her mind was like rusty gear, and she felt like she was carrying a heavy burden and could not move.

"Damn, he is the murderer!" Nitta Akari saw the taxi starting up with his eyes still able to move. There seemed to be black unidentified objects moving on the old body of the car.

"I can't ask for help anymore, what should I do..."

She tried to take action to notify Genichi but to no avail. Although she had not given up, she could only pin her hopes on Genichi being able to discover the abnormality.

Judging from the murderer's modus operandi, it seemed that she would be fine for the time being until she arrived at the crime scene chosen by the murderer. Looking at the driver's evil smile in the rearview mirror made her heart chill, and thinking of the miserable conditions of the victims, fear gradually filled her heart.

Genichi, who was hiding in the dark, saw Nitta Akari get into a taxi and get rid of the man who was following her. She had initially planned that if she couldn't get rid of that man, she would have to cancel her plans for tonight.

Unexpectedly, Nitta Akari got into a taxi. Why did she choose to do this? Moving in a taxi would not have been able to catch the murderer. 

The only explanation is that something is wrong with the taxi.